Editorials
Final Chapters, Extinctions & Apocalypses: Ranking All 8 ‘Resident Evil’ Live Action Adaptations
As the Resident Evil franchise steadily marches towards its 30th anniversary, enough time has passed that a whole generation of fans now consider the series’ divisive film adaptations to be just as integral to the IP’s identity as the games that they’re supposedly based on.
And with Zach Cregger’s upcoming cinematic reboot promising to take the franchise back to its horrific roots, we thought that it might be fun to look back on the adaptations of yesteryear and rank every entry in this long-running series. After all, with seven live action films and an eight-episode TV show, I’d argue that there’s a Resident Evil adaptation for every kind of fan.
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own personal rankings if you disagree with our order, but keep in mind that we’ll be excluding the franchise’s various animated entries due to the fact that their stories are actually considered canon in the games – meaning that they’re technically not adaptations.
With that out of the way, onto the ranking.
8. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
It’s a real shame that Paul W.S. Anderson’s iteration of the series went out with a proverbial whimper just as the gaming franchise was starting to make its horrific comeback, but it’s hard to defend an action-horror flick with repetitive fight scenes and little-to-no scares.
Alas, there isn’t much to like about this undead road trip other than Milla Jovovich’s natural charm. That being said, I guess we should be grateful that this definitive ending has allowed for new takes on the series from other, more horror-oriented filmmakers.
7. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
RE: Retribution may be structured like a level-based videogame and even features the live-action debut of fan-favorite characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong and Barry Burton, but this overproduced mess is still a low point for the franchise.
From its nonsensical script to its over-reliance on CGI action, Retribution feels more like a corporate-mandated cash-grab than a movie made by people who actually care about the series.
I do love its over-the-top rendition of Wesker, though.
6. Resident Evil (2022)
An episodic format feels like a natural fit for an IP as lore-heavy as the Resident Evil games, and while Netflix’s adaptation wasn’t exactly a big hit with fans due to its young-adult elements and convoluted timeline, this short-lived TV show is still worth watching if you know your way around the games’ extensive mythology.
Of course, the late Lance Reddick’s performance as Albert Wesker is the real reason to watch the show, as his surprisingly nuanced take on a traditionally two-dimensional villain remains a highlight of the franchise as a whole.
5. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
Paul W.S. Anderson’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair may have resulted in an objectively bad sequel, but I’d argue that this over-the-top piece of stereoscopic schlock is some of the most fun that an action-horror fan can have with their clothes on.
Featuring some of the most stylized set-pieces in the series as well as some tongue-in-cheek nods to the then-recent RE5, Afterlife is a great time if you choose to experience it as an action-packed haunted-house attraction rather than a proper narrative film.
4. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Johannes Roberts’ attempt at breathing new life into the (un)dead franchise may have received a bad rap upon release, but I still think this underfunded passion project is a lot more fun than it has any right to be. Adapting two titles at once was certainly a bold choice, but Roberts mostly makes up for this rushed approach by adding in a healthy dose of both humor and fan service – not to mention a welcome return to genre scares.
And while the flick stumbles in the narrative department (especially where characterization is concerned), this is still the only Resident Evil adaptation to actually feel like it takes place in the same world as the games.
And hey, they absolutely nailed the live-action depiction of Lisa Trevor!
3. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
My personal favorite entry in the franchise (though not necessarily the best), Alexander Witt’s RE: Apocalypse has a lot going for it if you can stomach a bloated runtime and an increased focus on action. After all, this is the first film to feel like it takes place in Raccoon City, and it also happens to feature the best antagonist in the entire series.
It’s still a shame that Leon S. Kennedy is nowhere to be found, but this thrilling midnight movie is still a kick-ass sequel boasting a plethora of impressive practical effects and some great atmosphere.
2. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Directed by Ozploitation veteran Russell Mulcahy (who also helmed the original Highlander), RE: Extinction takes the franchise in a much shlockier direction and is all the more entertaining for it. Taking place in a Mad-Max-inspired rendition of post-apocalyptic Nevada, the movie barely resembles its source material, but that doesn’t really matter when its original creations are so much fun.
Extinction suffers from a disjointed script and an assortment of predictable plot points, but memorable scenes like that thrilling crow attack (not to mention the first live-action depiction of the games’ Tyrant) mostly make up for its narrative flaws.
1. Resident Evil (2002)
It may not be the George A. Romero project that we’ve all dreamed of, but I still defend Paul W.S. Anderson’s first foray into the undead world of Resident Evil as a legitimately great horror flick. Boasting a great cast, incredible atmosphere and a kick-ass soundtrack, I’d argue that this cheesy midnight movie sold more copies of the game than Lady Dimitrescu’s exaggerated figure ever could.
The movie only tangentially resembles its namesake, but the fact that this script was initially meant to be an original horror story inspired by the director’s impressions of playing through the games makes me appreciate it more than a straightforward adaptation of an existing story.
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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